How do we find balance? There are so many expectations in life: having the career (or the job), the perfect place to live, the right (or left) political ideals, and navigating how we live in society.
As students it can be overwhelming, to say the least. Many (myself not included) are young, but I’ve been blown away by the intuition and enthusiasm of my classmates, who have given me inspiration and answers for my own future. I decided after years of service-industry work, and living the high life, to go back to school at 34 years old, as a mature student. Well, “mature” is not necessarily the word that I would choose, but I’ve done my best. The key is trying to balance academics with real life.
As far as academics go, we’re all trying to just get by getting used to an in-person class experience again. It was a bizarre experience a couple years back having to suddenly be banished to our bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, whatever small room was available. Yet, suddenly, there was this amazing new world: the world in the pandemic land. A place where you could roll over in your jammies, turn on the laptop, and, if you still had an ounce of brainpower left, the world was your oyster. You didn’t have to put on clothes, faces. However, we also got used to not knowing our colleagues in person, which is a bit tragic as we weren’t able to read our new friends’ body language.
Real life can be a doozy. Whoever may be reading this… Are you out there, somewhere? I bet that life has thrown you a few curveballs, if not occasionally then all the time. An example of this is the last few weeks of my own life, where I’m trying to balance a new relationship, the expectations of Christmas with family—which is lovely but nevertheless stressful—final exams, and then, as I write this, the cat gets sick. It kind of feels like the world is saying, “What can you handle today, Em?”
Learning to balance. Spending a certain amount of time studying, making sure your clothes match, trying to keep the partying down (at least to where you feel you can walk in the morning), remembering to tell loved ones that they are indeed very much loved, consuming proper nutrients, and paying attention to what is going on with your pet. This is my new column, and this will sound cliché, but let’s try to remember that we need to pay attention to our own needs.
Of course, yesterday, in the middle of exam week, I found one of my used socks in my coat pocket, so who am I am to talk about anything?